Last for shoes



Sept. 8, 1942. J 'AMlCO I 2,294,885

LAST FOR SHOES Filed Dec. 22, 1958 infirm .W. II I 2 A r INVENTOR v r/ose afi tVm/co BY 4- ATTORNEY Patented SeptfS, 1942 LAST FOR SHGES Application December 22, 1938, Serial No. 247,146

7 Claims. (Cl. 12128.1)

The object of this invention is to provide a universal last that will fit shoes of standard width and of a great variety of lengths.

Another object of the invention is to provide a last that can be easily placed in and removed from the shoe.

Another object is to provide a last that will make a good fit in the shoe when it is placed therein, and will place a practically uniform tension on the various members of the shoe.

Another object of the invention is to provide an eye-screw fastened to the heel portion of the last, which serves a double purpose; namely, it facilitates the removal of the last from the shoe and it also serves as an extension by which the shoe and last can be held in engagement with a support.

These and other objects of the invention will be illustrated in the drawing, described in the specification, and pointed out in the claims at the end thereof.

In the drawing: Figure l is a side elevation of the last. Figure 2 is a longitudinal section of the last,

the section being taken on the line 2-2 of Fig-J ure 4.

Figure 3 is a longitudinal section through the shoe, showing the rear part of the last in section.

Figur 4 is a top plan View of the last.

Figure 5 is a front elevation of the metal plate.-

that is fastened to the toe portion of the last.

In the drawing like reference numerals indicate like parts.

In the drawing reference numeral I indicates the toe part of the last and 2 indicates the heel.

part of the last. The toe part of the last is hollowed out with a recess, as indicated at 3, and the heel part of the last has a hole bored through it as indicated at On the toe part of the last is fastened a metal plate 5, which plate has parallel lugs 6 and i thereon extending forwardly into the recess 3. Between these lugs is pivotally mounted the connecting rod 8, which is square in cross section. On this plate 5 is provided a shoulder 9 on which the rod 8 can rest so that it will be held in a correct position when the last is in the shoe. On the rear end of the rod 8 is loosely place a plate :0. The rod 8 has a head ll up-set thereon, by which the plate It is held firmly on the rod with a sliding engagement therewith. The rod is square in cross section and the openings in the plates 5 and H] are oblong and square respectively and thereby the parts of the last are held in line with each other.

Surrounding the rod is a spring l2, which is' held under compression between the two plates 5 and IE3, so that the spring normally acts to press these plates apart and hold them apart.

The spring is coiled so as to have a coneshaped outline, so that it will compress to better advantage, and this in turn gives a longer travel to the heel portion of the last than could be attained if the spring were merely cylindrical in outline. In this way the last is made adaptable to a greater variety of lengths of shoes.

lhe plate 5 is fastened to the toe part of the last by screws indicated at E3 and the plate It is fastened to the heel part of the last by screws M. In this way the two parts of the last are positively held together and are normally spaced apart by the spring l2 limited by the connecting rod 8.

When this last is put in a shoe, the heel part of the last is raised to the dotted line position shown in Figure 2 and the toe of the last is inserted in the shoe, and the heel part of the last is then pressed forward and moved down into engagement with the heel part of the shoe, the

process of its insertion being sufiiciently shown in Figures 2 and 3. The spring I2 then expands and the last then holds the various members of the shoe under tension, so that the shoe is in the best possible position for being worked on.

The shoulder 9 is useful, as will now be explained. When the last is in the shoe, it keeps the heel portion of the last and of the shoe'from swinging downward with reference to the toe portion of the last and shoe from the full line position shown in Figures 2 and 3, so that the arch of the -shoe will remain in correct position and will not yield under pressure.

For the purpose of removing the last from the shoe, I provide the eye-screw I5, which is attached to the heel portion of the last. With the last in position in the shoe, the operator can take hold of the eye-screw and move the heel portion forward and remove it from the shoe. This eye-screw, however, serves a double purpose, in that it can be used to engage an opening in the support on a jack or shoe press such as is described in my prior application Ser. No. 240,085, filed November 12, 1938, by which the shoe and last are held firmly in an inverted position while the shoe is being worked on.

I claim:

1. A last comprising a toe part and a heel part with an open space between them, said open space extending from the top to the bottom of the toe part and the heel part of a last, a rod pivotally attached to the toe part and projecting rearwardly therefrom, said rod having a sliding engagement with the heel part of the last and a spring surrounding the rod and holding the two parts of the last yieldingly spaced apart, said spring being so cone-shaped in cross section as to permit the coils to seat one within the other thereby on collapse of the last permitting the heel part of the last to approach close to the toe part of the last.

2. A last comprising a toe part and a heel part with an open space between them, a recess provided centrally in the rear of the toe part of th last, a plate attached to the toe part of the last having lugs thereon, a connecting rod pivotally mounted between said lugs and mounted to swing thereon, a rectangular opening in the plate which limits the up and down swinging movement of the rod, a plate on the heel part of the last having an opening therein, a hole extending longitudinally and centrally through the heel part of the last, said rod making sliding engagement with the hole in the heel part of the last and the hole in the plate thereon, a head on the end of the rod making a one-way engagement with the plate, and a spring surrounding the rod and bearing against the two plates and thereby holding the two parts of the last apart.

3. A last, comprising a toe part and a heel part with an open space between them, said toe part and said heel part each having substantially upright parallel walls adjacent to each other on which the two parts could normally abut, a recess provided centrally in the rear wall of the toe part of the last, a plate attached to said wall having lugs thereon, a connecting rod pivotally mounted between said lugs and mounted to swing thereon, a hole extending longitudinally and centrally through the heel part of the last, a plate on the forward end of the heel part of the last having an opening therein partially closing said hole, said connecting rod making sliding engagement with the hole in the heel part of the last and with the plate thereon, a head on the end of the rod in the heel part of the last making a one-way engagement with the plate, and a spring placed between the upright walls for holding the two parts of the last apart and permitting them to be pressed together.

4. A last comprising a toe part and a heel part with an open space between them, said toe part having substantially an upright wall at the rear end thereof, and said heel part having substantially an upright wall at the front thereof, the walls being normally substantially parallel to each other and capable of abutment, a recess, provided centrally in the rear wall of the toe part of the last, a plate attached to said wall having lugs thereon, a connecting rod pivotally mounted between said lugs and mounted to swing thereon, a hole extending longitudinally and centrally through the heel part of the last, a plate on the upright wall of the heel part of the last having an opening therein partially closing the hole, said connecting rod making sliding engagement with the hole in the heel part of the last and the hole in the plate thereon, a head on the end of the rod making a one-way engagement with the plate, and a spring surrounding the rod and bearing against two plates and thereby holding the two parts of the last apart, said spring being coiled in a cone-shape to facilitate the collapsing thereof.

5. A last comprising a toe part and a heel part, a plate attached to the rear surface of the toe part having an elongated rectangular slot, a plate attached to the front surface of the heel part, a square rod pivotally attached at its front end to the plate on the toe part and held against turning thereby, said rod being movable through said rectangular slot and having a sliding engagement with the heel part of the last, a square opening in the plate on the heel part, said rod passing through said square opening and having a head on its rear end that holds it in engagement with the plate, said rod holding the two parts f the last substantially in line with each other, a spring surrounding said square rod between the two parts of the last by which the parts are yieldingly held apart.

6. A last comprising a toe part and a heel part, a plate attached to the rear surface of the toe part, a plate attached to the front surface of the heel part, a square rod pivotally attached at its front end to the plate on the toe part and held against turning thereby, a bracket on said plate extending out under the rod for the purpose of supporting the rod, said rod having a sliding engagement with the heel part of the last, and a spring surrounding said rod between the two parts of the last by which the two parts are yieldingly held apart.

7. A last comprising a toe part and a heel part, a plate attached to the rear surface of the toe part, a plate attached to the front surface of the heel part, a rod pivotally attached at its front end to the plate on the toe part and held against turning thereby, said rod having a sliding engagement with the heel part of the last, and a spring surrounding said rod between the two parts of the lasts by which the two parts are yieldingly held apart, said spring being so coneshaped in cross section as to permit the coils to seat one within the other, thereby on collapse of the last permitting the heel part of the last to approach close to the toe part of the last.

JOSEPH AMICO. 

